Feyenoord forward Cyriel Dessers has revealed Nottingham Forest was one of three teams he could have joined on deadline day in the previous window before opting to sign for the Eredivisie outfit, speaking in an interview with Sports Nieuws.

Belgian top-tier outfit Royal Antwerp, Forest and his current side were all in the race for his signature after mainly coming off the bench for parent club Genk during the 2020/21 campaign, with the arrival of ex-Chelsea man Ike Ugbo in August damaging his chances of receiving regular game time at the Luminus Arena.

The East Midlands outfit were still crying out for a new striker to come in at that point, with no additions made in that position over the summer despite holding the joint-second worst attacking record in the Championship last term.

 

 

Scoring just 37 goals in 46 league appearances, with Lyle Taylor failing to impress in his first season at the City Ground and Lewis Grabban unable to make a real impact after spending a sizeable chunk of the season out of action, this poor form in front of goal continued as they netted just five goals in the opening seven league games of 2021/22 before Chris Hughton's departure.

It has since been revealed by 26-year-old Dessers that he could have been the man tasked with solving their woes, but decided to join Dutch top-tier club Feyenoord instead on a season-long loan.

Speaking to Sports Nieuws (via Nottingham Forest News) about his move away from Genk, the striker said: "Transfer deadline day was the craziest of my life. I left for Madrid at 6 in the morning, with the idea of signing with Leganes. But at the gate, we received a phone call from several clubs.

"Antwerp, Nottingham Forest, Feyenoord. In the end, we got on a plane. During the flight, you have no idea for two-and-a-half hours which team you will play for the next day.

"After landing we sat down on a bench in front of the airport and reached an agreement with Feyenoord and I signed my contract in the lobby of a hotel in Madrid.

"Everyone says you shouldn’t choose the money, but when those numbers are in front of you, it works a little differently. I received one offer from Japan, it was mega!"

The Verdict:

This is yet another summer blow for Forest having already reported to have been rejected by Spezia's Mbala N'Zola and STVV's Yuma Suzuki during the previous transfer window.

Although you could have sympathy with the second-tier side because of the fact none of these three deals failed to materialise, the fact they left much of their transfer business until the last minute caused this striker shortage, and they will be counting their lucky stars that key man Grabban has stepped up to the plate.

Ideally though, a striker signing in January would be needed to provide competition to the likes of the 33-year-old and Taylor, even if new manager Steve Cooper opts to persist with one up front in a 4-2-3-1 or a 3-4-2-1 system, something that is definitely a possibility.

To miss out on Dessers must be gutting for officials at the City Ground, especially after seeing him score an impressive four goals in eight league appearances for Feyenoord so far this season.

In fairness, the English side may have been reluctant to bring Djed Spence in on a temporary spell if they had recruited Dessers on loan though, which would have taken their loan player total to an undesirable six.

Relying less on loan players will be their next step.